Participants:
Series Code: LGS
Program Code: LGS019409A
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00:01 Hello, I'm Mike Browning.
00:02 Welcome to Let God Speak. 00:04 Nothing of value ever seems to be accomplished for God 00:06 without trial and difficulty. 00:08 Therefore, every forward step in 00:10 advancing God's Kingdom must be saturated in prayer. 00:14 We'll see this in the experience of Ezra 00:16 and Nehemiah today. 00:42 Well, folks, on our panel today 00:43 we have Steven Groom and Blair Lemke. 00:45 And, gentlemen, we're very grateful to have you 00:47 on our panel today. 00:48 Thank you. 00:49 I would invite everyone to join us in prayer 00:51 before we open the Scripture. 00:53 Father in heaven, 00:54 we really need Your Spirit to guide us today 00:57 and help us to understand and apply in our lives 01:00 the things that we study 01:01 from Ezra and Nehemiah and other scriptures today. 01:04 So please bless in God 01:06 as we pray in Jesus' name, amen. 01:08 Amen. 01:10 All right, folks, we're going to begin today 01:12 by looking at the influence of God 01:14 in the history of men and nations, 01:15 which is very interesting. 01:17 And, of course, our particular focus is on Israel. 01:20 And we'd like to invite you to join with us 01:22 as we turn to Daniel Chapter 1. 01:25 And we're going to read verse 1 and 2 there, 01:28 to give us the background here, 01:30 and this is what it says, 01:31 "In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, 01:35 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon 01:38 came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 01:40 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand," 01:43 and I want you to notice what he did at the time, 01:46 "with some of the articles of the house of God," 01:49 that's the temple in Jerusalem, 01:51 "which he carried into the land of Shinar 01:52 to the house of his god, 01:54 and he brought the articles into the treasure house 01:57 of his god." 02:00 It just looks like they took everything out of the temple, 02:02 almost at the end of temple worship, 02:04 as they knew it, isn't it? 02:05 Yeah, this is certainly what we see in scripture. 02:09 And it is destroyed 02:11 this is the first of a number of attacks on Jerusalem 02:14 that ultimately result 02:15 in the destruction of the temple. 02:16 And God's people are taken into captivity in Babylon 02:19 and no longer able to worship in that temple environment. 02:22 And so, of course, it's not the end of the story. 02:25 We pick up the end of the story in Ezra. 02:27 I'm in Ezra 1:1-7 and 8 as well 8-9. 02:33 And we see here Cyrus is raised up, 02:36 by the name of Cyrus, King Cyrus is raised up 02:38 to kind of restore I suppose these things 02:41 that were taken away from Jerusalem 02:43 and it mentions there in verse 10, 02:45 "Thirty gold basins, 02:46 four hundred and ten silver basins of a similar kind. 02:49 All these thousands of other articles." 02:51 It's just many riches and many items 02:55 for their from that temple worship 02:56 that are brought back 02:57 and King Cyrus is raised up to restore. 02:59 Yeah. 03:01 And it specifically says there in verse 7 on as that, 03:03 "King Cyrus also brought out 03:04 the articles of the house of the Lord, 03:07 which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem." 03:09 So he acknowledged that this Nebuchadnezzar 03:11 had taken them as he as earlier. 03:14 And now, of course, he's bringing them back. 03:16 Sorry, you were gonna say something else. 03:17 It's interesting that Cyrus is named 03:19 as God's Anointed in Isaiah 45:1. 03:22 So he was anointed by God to capture 03:27 the kingdom of Babylon 03:28 and open the way for the captives Israelites 03:31 to go back home to Jerusalem, 03:32 just as Jesus, 03:34 when He comes again, 03:35 He will open the way for God's people 03:36 to go back home. 03:38 Hey, I like that. Thank you. 03:39 Yeah, that's good, a good message, indeed. 03:42 How interested is God 03:44 in what the nations actually do? 03:46 Is He watching in the affairs of the nations do you think? 03:48 Yeah, it's interesting, actually, you know, 03:50 we find in Scripture that God's actually 03:51 very interested in what takes place 03:54 in all of the nations of the world. 03:55 Let's have a look here in Proverbs 14:34. 04:00 Scripture actually says that, "Righteousness exalts a nation, 04:04 but sin is a reproach to any people." 04:07 And so, you know, we see in scripture 04:09 that prosperity and peace is not just singly 04:12 the result of smart or intelligent leadership 04:15 of the nation, 04:16 but it's actually also a result of God's blessing. 04:18 Yeah. 04:20 And we see this as well in Daniel, 04:21 we see a very clear depiction of this in Daniel 04:23 with King Nebuchadnezzar 04:25 isn't it's a very strong example. 04:26 In Daniel 4:30-31. 04:32 Let me just read to you what it says, 04:33 this is speaking of King Nebuchadnezzar, 04:35 it says, "The king spoke, saying, 04:37 'Is not this great Babylon, 04:39 that I have built for a royal dwelling 04:41 by my mighty power 04:43 and by the honor of my majesty.'" 04:44 He thought he'd done it all himself. 04:46 Yeah. 04:47 Verse 31, 04:48 "While the word was still in the king's mouth," 04:50 while he was still saying, 04:51 "a voice fell from the heaven saying, 04:53 'King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken, 04:54 the kingdom has departed from you!'" 04:56 You know, we see here the Nebuchadnezzar thinking 04:59 that he's the one that has created 05:01 this great nation, 05:02 but God interrupts and says, no, 05:04 that's not necessarily the case. 05:05 And have a look, 05:07 if you just flick over across to verse 34, 05:10 God really brings us home. 05:12 It says, "At the end of the time," 05:13 you know, Nebuchadnezzar becomes aware 05:15 of that it wasn't just him. 05:16 And it says, "At the end of the time 05:17 I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, 05:20 and my understanding returned to me, 05:21 and I bless the Most High and praised and honored Him." 05:23 I'm in verse 37, 05:25 there at the end of the chapter says, 05:26 "I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt 05:28 and honor the King of heaven." 05:30 You know, Nebuchadnezzar is brought to a place 05:32 where he actually acknowledges that God is involved 05:34 in raising and lowering nations 05:36 and in that blessing and prosperity process 05:39 and it's not just the human leader. 05:41 Yes, and that still applies today, of course... 05:42 Of course. 05:44 Amongst the nations 05:45 and we should keep that in mind. 05:46 And notice he had to go insane for, was it seven years? 05:49 Seven times or seven years until he realized 05:52 that who actually runs the kingdom? 05:54 What does God have to do to interrupt, 05:57 you know, our process to communicate 05:59 these spiritual truths for us. 06:01 It shows you how important the spiritual truths 06:03 are to pick those up. 06:04 Yeah. And I thanks for that. 06:06 Now the last Babylonian king was Belshazzar, 06:11 the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. 06:12 Yeah. 06:14 And the question is, 06:15 was he any smarter than Nebuchadnezzar? 06:16 He had to go mad for seven years 06:18 to learn the lessons of life. 06:19 Yes. 06:20 Well, if we look at Daniel 5:1, 06:24 "Belshazzar the king made a great feast 06:27 for a thousand of his lords, 06:28 and drank wine in the presence of the thousand." 06:31 Now this was happening while Cyrus, 06:33 the king of the Medes and Persians was outside 06:35 attempting to capture the city, 06:38 but he took great comfort or in the physical surroundings 06:43 in the great big walls of Babylon 06:45 and also the steel gates. 06:47 He thought he was completely safe, 06:49 but the Bible says that now God in Isaiah, 06:52 he says that God opened those gates. 06:55 He showed his pride and arrogance 06:57 in this act and... 07:01 And he was surrounded by the Persian army 07:02 and while he was having this big party. 07:05 And in verse 2 and 3, we see this more so, 07:08 it says, "While he tasted the wine, 07:10 Belshazzar gave the command 07:11 to bring the gold and silver vessels 07:13 which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple 07:17 which had been in Jerusalem, and that the king, 07:19 his Lords, and his wives, and his concubines 07:21 might drink from them. 07:23 Then they brought the gold vessels 07:25 and had taken from the temple and they drank from them." 07:29 This shows the arrogance of taking spiritual things 07:33 from the temple of the Israelites 07:35 and using them for sacrilege. 07:37 Yeah, so this was a real act of defiance against God, 07:40 the deliberate act of defiance, wasn't it? 07:42 Yeah. 07:43 By Belshazzar. 07:46 So he wasn't any smarter. 07:49 And isn't it interesting how the temple in Jerusalem 07:51 comes into focus again by the way. 07:53 Yeah. 07:54 Once more, it's those vessels that Nebuchadnezzar stole 07:57 from the temple and brought back to Babylon 07:59 come into focus again. 08:01 And as we've seen, 08:02 they finally make their way back 08:04 after this period, of course, under Cyrus. 08:06 That's very interesting indeed. 08:09 Now Daniel was brought in 08:11 because remember how Belshazzar 08:12 saw this hand up here on the wall. 08:14 Yeah. 08:15 Basically, saying like this is, your time is up, 08:18 but he didn't understand the message, 08:20 calls in Daniel and the Hebrew prophet 08:23 to talk to him and explain it. 08:27 And Daniel reminds Belshazzar of Nebuchadnezzar's conversion, 08:32 you know, where he had that experience of going mad, 08:34 and then he came and acknowledged the true God. 08:36 And so Daniel reminds him of this, 08:38 and I like the way this is put. 08:40 It's fascinating to me. 08:41 Daniel 5:22. 08:44 It says there, this is Daniel talking, 08:47 addressing the King Belshazzar, 08:49 "You his son Belshazzar, 08:51 have not humbled your heart, 08:53 although you knew all this," 08:55 referring to the experience of his grandfather 08:57 Nebuchadnezzar, do you knew about that? 09:00 And instead of humbling your heart, 09:01 you became more defiant. 09:03 And one wonders however, 09:05 was God more patient 09:07 with Nebuchadnezzar than he was with Belshazzar. 09:13 I believe so because we have to remember 09:15 that King Nebuchadnezzar, he grew up as a pagan, 09:19 so he was worshiping the Babylonian God Marduk. 09:22 And God had to slowly bring him to the truth 09:26 by constantly revealing Himself. 09:28 He was patient at times when he rebelled against God, 09:32 so God was patient with him, but by that statement, 09:36 that you just read that you knew all this. 09:41 Belshazzar must have been brought up 09:43 almost as a Christian, you know, 09:45 hearing the story from Daniel Chapter 1 to 4 09:48 on the knee of his grandfather. 09:50 And so, now from those who have great light 09:55 much is expected, so God, we'd say, 09:58 could not do much with him. 09:59 He chose to rebel against great light, 10:02 he must have known 10:03 about the true God at a young age. 10:04 He must have been denying and drinking, you know, 10:07 their alcohol out of those temple vessels. 10:09 That's right. 10:11 It's a great act of defiance. 10:12 Great act of defiance. 10:13 He was making a statement where he stands 10:15 and we always telling our own story 10:17 whether we realize it or not. 10:19 And he was telling a story, no doubt about it. 10:21 He had other advantages too, Blair, didn't he 10:23 besides that Nebuchadnezzar's history? 10:26 That's right. I mean, he had a prophet in his palace. 10:29 He had Daniel in his very midst. 10:31 Someone who was speaking on behalf of God 10:33 and giving oracles of God directly to him, 10:36 but he demonstrated a posture 10:38 that wasn't interested in receiving 10:40 that light from God and so, 10:43 he squandered his opportunity 10:44 to receive direct light from God. 10:47 Defining moments, 10:49 to miss those defining moments was a great tragedy 10:51 and it was for him. 10:53 Now I wanna go forward in history now 10:55 to the time when the people of Israel had gone back, 10:57 remember under Cyrus taking with them the vessels 11:00 from the temple that Nebuchadnezzar had taken. 11:03 And now they go back, 11:05 and they rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. 11:08 And that Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the temple, 11:11 which was Solomon's, called Solomon's temple. 11:13 Now we're going to read that build that now. 11:15 It's useful to consider for a moment 11:17 how they actually went about the rebuilding process 11:20 because with Solomon's temple, 11:23 it was built by paid professionals. 11:25 That's right. Yeah. 11:26 And, of course, 11:28 it was one of the wonders of the world at the time, 11:29 magnificent. 11:31 Did they use paid professionals this time? 11:34 Here's the question. 11:35 Well, this time was actually very different. 11:37 And the context is that actually 11:39 the volunteers did all of the work. 11:41 And it's interesting 11:42 when you read the biblical account, 11:44 even the priests and the Levites 11:45 got involved in this work. 11:47 That's interesting, isn't it? 11:48 Everyone was doing it. Yeah, that's right. 11:49 So in Ezra, 11:51 and if you ever look here in Ezra 3:8-10, 11:55 we get this biblical description 11:57 of everyone getting involved, volunteers doing the work. 12:00 It says in the scriptures, it says, 12:02 "Now in the second month of the second year 12:04 of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, 12:06 Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, 12:08 Jeshua the son of Jozadak, 12:11 and the rest of the brethren 12:12 and the priests and the Levites, 12:14 and all those who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, 12:16 began work and appointed the Levites 12:18 from twenty years old and above to oversee 12:20 the work of the house of God." 12:21 And it goes on and it mentions that, 12:23 "These builders laid the foundations 12:25 of the temple of God 12:26 and say even the priests and the Levites 12:27 are involved in this work." 12:29 And it actually said there in verse 8 12:30 which you just read, 12:32 "All those who would come had out of the captivity 12:33 in Jerusalem began to work." 12:35 so they were all, everybody was involved. 12:36 That's right. 12:38 And if you go across to Nehemiah, 12:40 in Nehemiah Chapter 3, 12:42 Nehemiah 3:1-3, 12:44 we see that the wall around Jerusalem was actually built 12:47 with the same process as well, 12:49 volunteer labor and all getting involved in the work. 12:52 In Nehemiah 3:1 it says, 12:54 "Then Eliashib the high priest rose up 12:57 with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate, 12:59 they consecrated it and hung its doors. 13:02 And they built as far as the Tower of the Hundred, 13:04 and consecrated it, then as far as the Tower of Hananel. 13:06 Next to Eliashib the men of Jericho 13:08 built next to them Zuccur the son of Imri built. 13:11 Also the sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate, 13:15 and they laid its beams and hung its doors 13:16 with its bolts and bars." 13:18 And so the scene here is everybody getting involved 13:20 teams of workers, volunteers completing the work 13:22 that previously was done on a professional basis. 13:25 It's very detailed here, isn't it? 13:26 They kept a very strict account of who was doing what. 13:29 And that shows the detail of God. 13:31 God is very detailed. 13:33 He keeps a collection of everything we do, isn't it? 13:35 He know what's going on. 13:37 Especially the names, the history of the names. 13:38 Yeah, that was really interesting. 13:39 All right. 13:41 Yeah. 13:42 Now looking at... 13:43 I just liked it while we're in Nehemiah. 13:45 Nehemiah Chapter 7. 13:46 And I'm gonna read there verse 73, folks, 13:50 if you can join with me there. 13:52 I want us to consider for a moment. 13:55 Steven, I'm gonna ask you to share something with us now. 13:57 What does this tell us about the success of the approach 14:00 of using volunteers? 14:01 Chapter 7:73. 14:03 At the end of this process of rebuilding, right? 14:05 This is what took place. 14:07 "The priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, 14:11 some of the people, the Nethinim, 14:12 and all Israel dwelt in their cities. 14:16 When the seventh month came, 14:17 the children of Israel were in their cities." 14:19 It says it twice. 14:20 So there must be some point here. 14:21 Yeah, we notice that in the scripture, 14:23 that emphasis is placed upon our repetition 14:26 and it says that and we should not lose 14:28 the significance of that, 14:30 because when they returned to Jerusalem, 14:34 it was just a pile of ruins. 14:36 Much like in world, after World War II, 14:38 you know, the cities of Germany were just piles of rubble. 14:41 And so it emphasizes here that 14:44 through the work of volunteers, 14:48 after the seventh month 14:50 they were dwelling in cities again. 14:52 There's an old saying that says, 14:53 many hands make light work. 14:55 So when you get everybody working, 14:58 great things can be done. 15:00 It's a good example 15:01 for churches now to base on them. 15:03 And so by this time that people 15:04 are all comfortably in their homes. 15:06 Yes. 15:07 Wow. 15:09 So that's quite an achievement. 15:10 Now, you know, there's bound to be some of our viewers 15:12 of this program today 15:13 who have faced such devastation themselves 15:16 in their own lives. 15:18 And, you know, our hearts go out to them, Steven. 15:20 Certainly our hearts go out to such people. 15:23 I mean, we cannot expect to live a life of peace 15:27 and safety in this world completely, can we? 15:29 We seek that, 15:31 but sin has left a chaotic example in this world, 15:36 so many of us... 15:39 We receive persecution and disaster. 15:44 God has promised us in Jeremiah 29:11, 15:48 He says, "Peace, I live you. 15:50 It's an inward peace. 15:52 I have told you things so that in this world, 15:56 you may have peace. 15:57 In this world you will have trouble. 15:58 But take heart! 16:00 I have overcome the world." 16:01 So Jesus offers us an inward peace. 16:05 Outwardly, we can have problems. 16:10 So He's offering us all the same kind of peace. 16:13 And I notice here, even in Jeremiah 29:11, 16:16 I think you're going there. 16:18 And God says, "I know the thoughts 16:19 that I have toward you," says the Lord. 16:22 And I think this is a very well-known scripture 16:24 amongst Christians nowadays. 16:25 That's right. 16:26 "Thoughts of peace and not of evil, 16:28 to give you a future and a hope." 16:29 Now this was spoken to encourage the Israelites 16:32 when they went back basically to Israel 16:35 at the time we're discussing now 16:37 when they're going back to rebuild a shattered nation, 16:40 basically and certainly a shattered city. 16:42 And that this was conditional also, 16:44 conditional upon their remaining faithful to them... 16:47 That's a very important point. 16:49 I mean, we should come back to that later. 16:50 Yes. 16:52 Many people, of course, 16:53 stayed in Babylon and didn't go back 16:55 when they had the opportunity to do so. 16:58 That's right. 16:59 And they stayed in Babylon in their homes 17:00 there instead of going back to Israel, didn't they? 17:02 That's right. 17:03 And in doing so they really missed out 17:05 on the opportunity of the trials 17:07 and the joy of the restoration process 17:09 that was involved in going forward and being in the place 17:12 where God had called them. 17:14 Many had become very comfortable 17:15 in their situation in Babylon 17:17 and didn't feel it was necessary to go and do 17:20 what God had called them forward to do. 17:22 And so, you know, 17:23 this is something that we see happening often, 17:26 in our own experience we can become very comfortable 17:28 in a situation, 17:30 but where God has called us out, 17:33 you know, God is asking us to move forward. 17:34 Yeah. 17:37 And sometimes He calls us out of being comfortable 17:40 to work for Him. 17:41 And that's a challenge, isn't it? 17:42 It is a challenge. 17:44 And so whether a job is easy or hard 17:46 is not the question we should necessarily ask 17:48 when God gives us an assignment. 17:50 Yes. 17:51 It's a case of whether it should be done or not. 17:52 That's the question. 17:54 Whether God is actually calling us. 17:55 Exactly. You know, good, thanks for that. 17:58 Can we avoid trials and difficulties, 18:02 even disappointments? 18:03 Well, no. 18:05 And I think nor should we want to 18:07 because these are the very things 18:08 that God uses to develop and refine our characters 18:11 and help to grow us spiritually. 18:13 Yeah. 18:14 And you see this often throughout scripture. 18:17 If you turn to Acts Chapter 14, 18:19 I mean, Acts 14:22, 18:22 we read quite a powerful scripture. 18:26 It says, "Strengthening the souls of the disciples, 18:29 and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, 18:33 'We must through many tribulations 18:35 enter the kingdom of God.'" 18:37 And so this is counsel from scripture, 18:39 saying that through tribulation, through trial, 18:41 this is actually a pathway forward 18:42 into the very Kingdom of God through these refining process 18:45 and this is why, you know, 18:47 James is able to say count it all joy 18:49 when you suffer trials. 18:51 This is why... 18:52 That's a big ask, isn't it? 18:54 It's not an easy thing to do, we all know. 18:56 And so God is not calling us to live a comfortable life, 19:00 but He's preparing us for heaven, 19:02 which is eternal life. 19:03 That's right. 19:05 It's important to get this point 19:06 because we're ought to think, 19:07 "Well, we're Christians now everything should go smoothly 19:09 and be peachy keen." 19:11 But it's not always like that. 19:12 I thought that when I was converted, boy, 19:13 I was in for a big shock. 19:16 Perhaps we all were. 19:17 So keep it in mind, 19:18 God has a hard job getting through to us 19:21 with the things He wants us to know. 19:23 And trials and difficulties seem to be the best method 19:26 to make us open-minded. 19:28 Look at Nebuchadnezzar. 19:29 That's right. 19:30 Went mad for seven years. 19:32 So that was the way God got through to him. 19:33 So we can't avoid trials and difficulties. 19:36 Some of our viewers may be facing trials and difficulty 19:40 even as we speak today, 19:42 and have a difficulty following Jesus as a result of that. 19:48 What would you say to them? 19:49 What encouragement would you give them today? 19:51 Well, looking back at the Bible, 19:53 by the time of Ezra 19:54 the Jews had lived in captivity for 150 years. 19:58 So they had become comfortable. 20:00 They had their life, they had their farms, their property... 20:03 Good jobs. 20:05 Their jobs, so you can understand 20:06 why many of them didn't want to leave. 20:08 But I'd like to... 20:10 I'd like to turn to Deuteronomy 30:1-2, 20:15 and this will show, 20:16 this is often overlooked, where it says, 20:21 "And you return to the Lord your God 20:23 and obey His voice, 20:24 according to all that I command you today, 20:27 and your children, with all your heart, 20:29 with all your soul, 20:31 that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity." 20:36 And then I'd like to take it 20:37 to the last part of verse 4 and 5. 20:41 "The Lord your God will gather you, 20:43 and from there He will bring you. 20:45 Then the Lord your God will bring you to the land 20:47 which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it." 20:51 So Babylon is really for us in a contemporary setting 20:55 it's about being in sin, and God calls us out of that, 20:59 to be faithful to Him and to become holy. 21:03 So He's always saying, "Come holy still." 21:05 And in that way, we're coming into the Promised Land, 21:08 so to speak, but... 21:10 And He will prosper you, 21:12 it goes on to say and multiply you more than your folks. 21:14 And that's what He was calling the people 21:16 and they weren't willing to do that. 21:17 And that's why in Revelation 18:4, 21:20 there's a call at the end time for the whole world 21:22 to come out of Babylon. 21:24 We know that's not literal 21:25 'cause Babylon is uninhabited at the time, 21:28 but it's a call to come out of sin 21:30 and live a holy life and connect yourself with God. 21:35 Yeah, thank you for that. That's great. 21:36 Yeah. 21:38 Going back to the time of Ezra, 21:41 where all of Ezra's returnees, 21:45 those who came back to Jerusalem with him, 21:47 were they all enthusiastic volunteers, right? 21:50 That's an important point here to work at, Steven. 21:54 Now if we go to Ezra 8:15, 17, 21:59 the author looks and he says that he saw, 22:02 "None of the sons of Levi," 22:03 which were the sons of the priests there. 22:07 And so he had to... 22:09 There were no priests. No Levites for the work. 22:11 No priests and Levites. 22:12 No Levite. 22:14 So they had to direct some to approach the Levites 22:15 and ask them personally 22:17 so it seemed that they were less willing to volunteer 22:20 themselves to come. 22:21 What do you think about it? 22:23 I mean, it was a big ask, these people had their homes 22:24 established, orchards, you know, 22:26 they had a lot of, 22:28 grew a lot of their own food, no doubt. 22:30 And now we're going back to a place 22:31 where the orchards were all destroyed 22:33 and the place was a mess. 22:34 Yeah. So it was a big thing to do. 22:36 There's no question about it. 22:37 And the same issue is asked for today 22:39 in the Book of Hebrews Chapter 11 says, 22:41 "And the challenge for us is to be strangers and pilgrims 22:44 in this land." 22:45 Okay. Okay. 22:47 Okay, so what sort of incentives 22:49 could Ezra offer these people 22:52 who were perhaps not so willing to volunteer? 22:54 They weren't much of it. 22:56 It really wasn't much of an incentive at all. 22:58 It was a hard pioneering life 23:00 that was offered to these volunteers. 23:02 All of the previous generation 23:04 at this point had been died and passed away. 23:06 And so they were pioneering, 23:08 they were doing pioneering work and say, 23:10 it was just a call to sacrifice in service. 23:12 Okay, and so some responded and some didn't, 23:14 it is important thing. 23:17 When a person who is a leader like Ezra and Nehemiah, 23:19 leaders at this time, 23:21 they needed some strong motivation 23:23 to be able to encourage people to make a huge step like that. 23:26 Didn't they? 23:27 So where did they... 23:29 Where did they get the courage from to do that? 23:30 I think they were students of scripture, 23:33 and they allowed scripture to inform 23:34 how they should move forward. 23:36 And they claimed God's promises. 23:37 We see that in Jeremiah 29:10, 23:39 we talked about these prophets earlier on. 23:41 Jeremiah 29:10, it says, "For thus says the Lord, 23:44 after 70 years are completed at Babylon, 23:46 I will visit you and perform My good work toward you, 23:48 and cause you to return to this place." 23:50 There's a promise of God that they had 23:52 that they would be returned and restored. 23:55 And we see as well in... 23:56 So this was... 23:58 This promise was actually a prophecy. 23:59 It was a prophecy. That it would happen. 24:01 And so they knew was the right thing to do. 24:03 That's correct. 24:04 And they were also I think are very well aware 24:06 that the rebellion, 24:08 the time in captivity was a result 24:10 of their own rebellion. 24:12 And we see that in Nehemiah. 24:13 It's where they departed, you know, 24:15 the Old Testament is just a series of departing 24:18 from the Lord going into captivity, 24:21 and then the Lord bringing them back out through the prophets. 24:23 Okay. Okay. 24:24 So these promises and prophecies 24:27 had a big impact on Ezra and Nehemiah, 24:30 Steven, is that right? 24:32 Yes, they knew this their work would be successful, 24:35 no matter how hard the trials, the stronger the faith, 24:39 you know, the more they realize 24:40 that God will get them through 24:42 if God is gonna call them out. 24:44 He will give the success to bring them out. 24:47 No matter what the difficulties they had initially. 24:48 No matter what the difficulties. 24:50 Yeah, that's good to keep in mind, 24:51 all right. 24:53 Now, tell me something, Steven, 24:54 does Jesus promise to return living in our day and age 24:57 now the promise of Jesus to return, 25:00 end of sin take us out of Babylon, 25:03 as you've pointed out already, Steven. 25:06 You know, that really encourages us, 25:07 doesn't it, encourage you? 25:09 Yes, it does. 25:10 I mean, if we go to John 15:20, 25:14 it says that, "If they have persecuted," you, 25:17 they'll sorry, "Me," Jesus when He was alive 25:20 and we read about that in the gospels, 25:22 "they will persecute you." 25:24 So the call of the Bible is to become like Jesus. 25:27 So the more we become like Jesus, 25:30 the more that we'll be persecuted in trials. 25:32 And the challenge is to become more like Jesus 25:36 and accept those trials. 25:37 And the temptation is, 25:39 is to stop becoming like Jesus 25:41 and receive less than being peace in this world. 25:44 Yeah. 25:46 Okay, thank you for, that is a challenge, 25:48 and it's a good challenge to take on board. 25:50 In the few moments we've got left, folks, 25:51 I wanna just refer to Ezra 8:21. 25:58 Before Ezra 26:00 aactually made the journey back with his people, 26:02 all the volunteers back to Israel, 26:05 he did this. 26:06 Verse 21, "I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, 26:10 that we might humble ourselves before our God, 26:12 to seek from Him 26:14 the right way for us and our little ones 26:17 and all our possessions." 26:18 And so verse 23. 26:20 And he goes in and say in verse 23, 26:22 "So we fasted and entreated our God for this, 26:25 and He answered our prayer." 26:26 So what's happening here in a few moments? 26:28 Yeah, I think God's people here are not gonna take 26:31 God's protection for granted, 26:32 they're not gonna have a posture of presumption 26:35 before God. 26:37 But they are recognizing that this is a dangerous journey, 26:40 and they need God's protection. 26:42 And so they're moving forward 26:43 with a posture of spiritual humility 26:44 towards God and submission to Him. 26:46 That's such a right... Sorry, Steven. 26:48 And also connected with returning back 26:50 to Jerusalem is preparing themselves 26:52 to be holy and without sin. 26:54 Okay, okay, 'cause this was a spiritual activity, 26:56 not just a physical, I mean, 26:58 reestablishing if you like the remnant people of God 27:00 back there in own country. 27:02 That's right. Yes. 27:03 And was a beautiful thing. 27:05 So they saturated what they were planning to do in prayer. 27:09 That's right. 27:10 There's a good guide for us. 27:11 Well, let's take it home folks today. 27:13 We all I think know to accomplish anything 27:15 of lasting value for God 27:17 requires total dedication to Him. 27:20 Not only that, but God's people must be prepared to face trials 27:23 and hardships prayerfully, 27:26 and God calls for true spiritual warriors today. 27:29 Well, that's Let God Speak for today. 27:31 You can view this program again on our website, 27:33 3abnaustralia.org.au. 27:36 Sabbath school teachers can net download their notes 27:40 from there if they'd like to use them 27:41 or you can email us if you prefer. 27:43 Join us again. 27:45 God bless. |
Revised 2020-03-02